Violet and Carmine
by Jeanne D'Orleans
Summary: AU Gakuen. Matthew always faded into the background. But one day the appearance of a new boy with red eyes changes his heart. Gilbert's past was dark - is it finally catching up with him? PruCan and others. Previously known as Matthew The Invisible.
1. Chapter 1: Home and Family

Tis my first time writing and posting on FF so (hopely) be kind! :)

**Disclaimer: I, ever so unfortunately just like the hundreds of earnest fangirls out there do not own Hetalia. If I did, the awkward PruHun scenes in episodes 90-91 would have never existed. The ever so revered Hidekaz Himaruya owns Hetalia. **

(Sorry for Fail!Title)

Intro!

Matthew Williams had always been a shy kid, never one to stand up for anyone else, nor did he need anyone to stand up for him (apart from a certain blue-eyed blond who always proclaimed that he was the hero in many inappropriate situations). His parents became divorced when he was 3 and he and his twin brother, Alfred despite their young age were pulled apart as well when his mother gained custody of Alfred and his father, him.

After the divorce, Alfred and their mother continued living in America. But his father, being French decided that he and Matthew would move to France to live for a while to get over the recent divorce.

They lived in France for a year, which then after his father decided that they would move to Canada, as there were many French speaking communities there and so that Matthew could be closer to his brother as well. After Matthew had received a scholarship to study in the prestigious Hetalia (World Series) Academy., they had then moved back to America.

Currently Alfred was living with them as well since their mum was now a successful businesswoman whom ran numerous fashion boutiques around the world, which meant that she was regularly if not nearly always jetting back and forth across the globe. Plus Alfred was also offered a spot at the Academy (why they selected him in the first place was a mystery).

* * *

Chapter I

"MATTIEEEEE!"

A loud and familiar voice rang out. Matthew was currently sitting on his bed sketching, a pastime he was rather fond of with Aiden's Moment blaring out of his headphones. He loved drawing and music; both transported him to another world, nothing to worry about, no school, nothing that could be out of-

"CAN YA HEAR ME?" Matthew was rudely awakened from his own little world by a deafening shout and a blast of ketchup flavoured breath in his face.

"God, Alfred! Will you leave me in peace for at least 10 mins?" Matthew shouted (or rather talked by average standards), pulling his headphones off hurriedly and sending a glare at his brother.

"How would you like it if I barged into your room like that, huh?" Matthew said.

Alfred gave him a pout and jumped on his bed, causing his brother to fall sideways.

"But Mattie, we all know you'll never do that!" Alfred fake-whined.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Matthew said half-heartedly.

"Anyways, Dad says that dinner's ready and told me to tell you to come down!" Alfred shouted, acting his usual self once again.

Alfred then flashed one of his mega-watt "I'm the Hero!" smiles at Matthew, he skipped/ran down the stairs for his usual ritual of engorging himself with their dad's cooking.

* * *

After a fairly peaceful dinner by the Jones/Williams household standards which consisted of Alfred complaining about Fish and Chips being English and that his impression of the English were awfully uptight snobs. Which then led on to him saying "Would you like a cup of tea?" many times in a posh English accent and countless other random English-y things and their father demanding that Alfred would shut up this moment, which led to Alfred replying him with a couple of English swear words. Followed by Alfred playing innocent as he glomped down the food noisily, all whilst Matthew sat quietly at the table absentmindedly poking at his food.

Matthew sighed inwardly, why couldn't he have a normal family and a normal brother?

It wasn't like he hated Alfred, but sometimes he was just too brash and loud, always attracting both the wrong and right kind of attention, and then Matthew was always almost nearly the one that got the consequences, people always mistaking him for Matthew. He loved Alfred, they had always been quite close, but recently as they both grew older, they started to have different tastes. Alfred always had been the one to stand out, it was a good thing for Alfred Matthew thought, but he was always cast in Alfred's shadow. He would get an A+ for all his subjects, but Alfred would score the winning goal in the finals. And who would gain the most attention from both their peers and parents? Alfred.

Matthew had grown accustomed to it after a while. He excelled in things vastly different from Alfred.

His drawings had been given as gifts to prestigious guests visiting their school and he had a fairly large fan base of his music online. But the point was that he was shy, he daren't attract attention to himself. He didn't get into any trouble, he wasn't good at public speaking, and the way he excelled in things was through anonymity. He put up his works, he needn't show his face. He put up his compositions online; he could choose whether he wanted the online community to know who he was.

Matthew put his headphones back on, now playing The Mortician's Daughter. He felt even more alone and sad when he heard it. Then with his heart on his sleeve, he begun drawing.

* * *

**AN: Eh, sorry if I butchered you with my grammar ;_; and my writing style. I wouldn't be surprised if people thought it was weird since I've lived in Singapore until the previous year when I moved to Australia...so yea. :3 And it's in British English :)**

**So Canada's feeling angsty about life and stuff. And no one else has yet to appear apart from America. And the Gakuen bit of the story is yet to appear as well.**

**Should I continue writing this? It is intended to be a multi-chapter though. We'll see how this goes! (if anyone actually reads this...)**

**Reviews are appreciated!**

**edit- I just realised that the 1st chapter (which is this) sounds really boring... Anyway Gilbert appears soon!  
**


	2. Chapter 2: Welcome To Hetalia Academy

Thanks for the reviews, favs, alerts, everything!

**Disclaimer: No, I don't own Hetalia. If I did the sexual tension between America and England would've been resolved with both of them er... better not continue. Still don't own Hetalia though. ):**

! Refer to AN below for any confusion concerning what Year or age or any stuff in this chapter.**  
**

Chapter 2

Christmas break had just ended and it was the start of a new school year. Which meant that Matthew was now in Year 11 and so was Alfred.

And every year, due to the school accepting several new students from around the world into their wings it meant that they usually had a "Welcome back to School" cum "Welcome to Hetalia Academy" assembly. For the older students, after a few years it became quite a boring and tiresome 1 hour long of speeches and mundane introductions.

The objective of the assembly was basically to as their principal said every other year, an event in which the whole school could come together and increase their morale looking forward to the year ahead while at the same time providing a warm welcome for the new students to their school.

How cliché, Matthew thought. It was always the same for all schools he had gone to. Obviously they did want to provide the best for their students (he assumed), yet their intentions were always veiled behind words and speeches that truthfully, no one gave a shit about.

Alfred had already gone to mingle with his friends among them his besties, Ivan who was from Russia and (his boyfriend) Wang Yao, which Matthew both kind of disapproved off. Frankly, Ivan was just plain weird. He would always smile to you in that childish way of his but then when he produced a lead pipe out of nowhere and would give you that kolkolkolkolkol~ laugh of his which wasn't even funny, all this while wisps of air a potent purple colour would curl around him. Matthew always wondered why Yao like Ivan, maybe it was his liking of all things cute. But Ivan? Cute? Matthew shuddered at that thought.

Matthew was currently sitting on a chair that was on the relatively far end of the hall. He knew that during these assemblies, rather than standing at the end of each row of the chairs in the hall, the teachers would be seated which meant that the students, especially those particularly skilful at identifying the seats in which the teachers wouldn't notice when you made a nuisance during assembly had an advantage in surviving the assembly. Matthew was one of them.

As usual, he had his messenger bag on him; it was his "lifeline". It was a plain black bag with a strap that was given to him by his father on his 12th birthday and it was personalised with a grunge Canadian flag on it by Matthew. Inside, held his precious sketchbooks, pencils, textbooks, exercise books and whatever else needed on a school day. He was sitting alone, which wasn't unusual for him. He did have a couple of friends, namely Kiku, a quiet Japanese boy who was related to Wang Yao and was also an otaku and an avid gamer and…well that was pretty much it. There was also Carlos, but he more than often mistook him for Alfred…so it wasn't really counted.

He had his headphones plugged in again, now listening to This Is How I Disappear. Pupils were filing in the doorways and taking their seats. The assembly was going to start in a few minutes time. Matthew glanced with disinterest around him. There was his brother, surrounded as usual by his many friends.

And here I am the pitiful brother, alone Matthew silently and bitterly thought. Kiku was probably off with Heracles, a rather lifeless looking Greek that Matthew thought Kiku liked. He didn't blame him, it was hard being friends with Matthew, he hardly spoke, but then again so did Kiku. They were both outcasts that didn't really fit in anywhere, but now even Kiku had found someone.

The principal gave his usual address to the school and tried to quieten the rowdy audience of teenage students.

"Welcome to the new school year of 2011! I hope you have enjoyed your Christmas breaks and are now ready for a new school year ahead! This year we have decided to meet the demands of some of our students to open a 2nd Drama club for those who want to try out drama for the first time and also a MUN (Model United Nations) Club! As you know, we are a multi-cultural school and thus we shall also actively participate in matters concerning countries of our fellow peers and ourselves." said the principal in an overly excited voice which was perfectly normal for him.

The audience politely gave a small round of applause.

"And now we shall introduce our new batch of Year 7 students this year!"

Principal Vargas then proceeded to read out the names of each and every new individual that were beginning their first year of high school here. Matthew didn't really pay attention but there was a blonde with short wavy who went up shivering and another overly excited blonde with rather big eyebrows and a sailor's cap.

After the Year 7s he then read out the few names of those that were coming in for Years 8, 9, 10 and 11. In Year 8 there was Toris, a Lithuanian and Eduard an Estonian. Both of them were exchange students and would be staying with the school for 3 months. In Year 9 there was Michelle, a half French-half Seychellois girl, Fatimah a Malay girl and another fellow Canadian, Jacques from Quebec. There was Arthur Kirkland from England, Year 10 and there were a few from Year 11. Matthew couldn't care less about who they were but he might as well know who he was going to get ignored again by.

Principal Vargas introduced them one by one. There were a few of them as they had transferred here after taking their School Leaving Certificates. There was Francis, obviously a Frenchman, Antonio, a Spaniard and the last one, Gilbert, a German of Prussian descendant. The three of them were from previously the same school but they looked and behaved totally different from one another. When Francis's name was called out to join the newcomers on stage, he walked with swag and winked at the crowd. Antonio was full of…joyfulness? The Spaniard seemed to have some kind of happy-o-meter around him. Gilbert looked quiet and dark. His eyes were ringed with black eyeliner, a contrast to his crimson eyes and his tousled silver hair. He wore red plaid skinny jeans (plaid was a requirement for their school uniform) and a rumpled white button up tee. An Iron Cross on a chain was hanging on his neck. His hands were in his pockets and he kept his head down in a mysterious way most of the time.

Well, that's it I guess. Matthew thought. The albino still held his fascination though. He didn't seem the kind who would like sports or drama or anything much for that matter.

When Matthew replayed this event in his mind later on, he didn't remember Principal Vargas droning on about welcoming and accepting the new students, all he remembered was Gilbert's eyes flickering up to meet his through his bangs. It was as if he knew Matthew was there in the crowd, looking at him. His crimson orbs lingered on him for a moment, filled with a certain sharpness and a hint of sadness and longing and then they blinked and flickered down again.

* * *

**Yay! Now for the massively long AN.**

**Christmas break and the school year- **

**This fic is meant to be set in America (I think) but after googling the American School Semesters, I found it majorly confusing so I just went with the Australian one. For Australia, the school term starts after Christmas/Summer break which is around 31 Jan or so (cuz Australia Day is on 26 Jan)**

**Years 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12- Matthew is in Year 11, the 2nd last year in High School. In Australia, most people go through kindergarten, Primary School which is basically Year 1-6 roughly 5-11/6-12 years old, High School Years 7-12 roughly 12-17/13-18 after that comes University. **

**In Year 10, we take the High School Certificate (equivalent to GSCE 'O' Levels) and in Year 12 the High School Leaving Cert. (equivalent to 'A' Levels and SAT- I think).  
**

**And schools accept new students in most years.**

**Carlos is Cuba, Michelle is Seychelles etc. it should be easy to figure out.**

**And the 2 Year 7s I mentioned. Guess who they are! (Should be fairly easy)**

**MUN-Model United Nations**

**It's when people represent different countries and attend conferences and discuss world issues and stuff we have one of these in my school.**

**And yes, Grandpa Rome is the Principal. Other countries and stuff will appear later.**

**And LE GASP. Gilbert wears guyliner! How smexay.  
**

**If you have any other questions and etc. just drop the story a review.**

**Reviews are greatly appreciated! (or Gilbert will stop being dark and mysterious!)**

**Hope this chapter wasn't that bad.  
**


	3. Chapter 3: Maths and General Awkwardness

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Hetalia. *sadface***

Chapter 3: Maths and Awkwardness

After the assembly was over, the students, already knowing what their schedules and classes were sent off to class.

Matthew's first class happened to be Maths which was taught by Ms Bunford, a rather old but stern looking lady. Right now after the usual awkwardness of adjusting and getting to know the new teacher, the class was working on a short test in recapping what they had learnt in the previous year (most of the students had obviously, totally let go of themselves during the break and remembered absolutely nothing)

Matthew had never been one that excelled particularly greatly in Maths, nor was he flunking this class. He mostly got As or Bs, enough to keep him on whoever was teaching him's good books. Matthew sighed and blew a strand of his wavy blond hair huffily, stuck on an algebra question.

Time flies. Yet another school year already. Matthew thought.

I'm already in Year 11 now, got to take studying more seriously! Matthew mentally berated himself. Matthew had no idea what he was going to do in college/university. A course in arts? Or maybe he'd just take a year or two off to travel around the world. Yea, that sounded good. The boy with the red eyes flashed upon his mind again. Somehow he just kept popping up in his head, he couldn't forget about him, it was as if his eyes were boring right through him, seeing into his soul.

Matthew was so caught up in his thinking that he didn't hear Ms Bunford speaking. "Mr Williams? Mr Williams? Yes Mr Williams, I'm glad you've joined us again." Matthew snapped out of it and groaned inwardly. Why couldn't she have just forgot him like absolutely everyone else did?

He then directed his attention to the front of the class where Ms Bunford was currently standing, alongside two of the new students they had this year, Francis Bonnefoy and Gilbert Beilschimdt, the boy he was just mulling over about and introducing them both to the class. Matthew subconsciously blushed, blaming himself for even remembering those eyes.

"Ah, there seems to be quite a few empty spots around the classroom, but seeing as you both already know each other, maybe you'll want to sit together?" Ms Bunford said as she scanned the room.

"There, the seat beside Mr Williams and the one in front of it. Now hurry on you two." She then slipped them both copies of the test they were doing.

"Now, we haven't started on anything new yet as I feel it is rather important to actually remember what you were doing before, so here is a short test on topics we've been covering last year. I trust your previous schools syllabuses should not have been much different from this." Francis looked frantically around the room for a while, eyes going right over the spot Matthew was sitting at before Gilbert nudged him in the right direction.

Matthew then ducked his head back down, feeling extremely awkward staring at both of them shuffle to their seats beside him. Please don't let it be him, please don't let it be him. Matthew prayed in his head. He sneaked a look to his side and surely, Gilbert was occupying the seat next to him. Dammit. Matthew groaned inwardly.

Whydidithavetobehim.

At least the French boy didn't look that weird. He could even practice his French on him or something. But he probably would be one of those who regularly forgot who he was. Matthew didn't even know WHY he didn't want to come in contact with that guy. He just gave out some sort of creepy aura.

Matthew heard a soft kesesesese~ on his right, which sounded like somewhat a cross between a sadistic laugh and a cackle. He turned around and noticed the sound was emitting from Gilbert but the sound immediately stopped when he looked at him. Matthew's mind froze for a moment. How'd he known that he was staring? His head was focused on the paper in front of him the whole time.

"Mr Williams, will you please keep your eyes on your own paper?" Ms Bunford said disapprovingly, peering over her glasses. This was already the second time on the first day back at school that she had caught him zoning out in her lesson. Great, Matthew thought.

Meanwhile Gilbert had turned to look at Matthew. Matthew blushed when he caught his eye and couldn't help but be drawn into them and mentally slapped himself for doing so. He gave Matthew a small grin that said "Oooh. Someone's in trouble, eh? Nah, not really, just was kidding." And something else that Matthew couldn't quite put a name to.

Matthew awkwardly gave a slight twitch of his lips back which caused Gilbert to resume chuckling again. Matthew blushed even more and mentally face-palmed himself for being such a derp. Now I've made a fool out of myself. Sigh. Not that anyone cared anyway. Gilbert would probably already have forgotten what his name was. Gilbert was still looking at him so Matthew offered another small smile, hoping to make up for his failure of a smile before.

"Mr Williams, I request that you leave Mr Beilschimdt alone please. One more time and detention for you. And Mr Beilschimdt as well I may add."

Matthew felt guilty for getting Gilbert in trouble as well and was just about to turn around to offer him an apologetic gesture but he caught Ms Bunford's hawk eyed gaze and immediately decided against it. He sneaked a look at Gilbert out of the corner of his eye and caught the albino flicking stapler bullets onto Francis who kept on sending annoyed looks towards Gilbert.

Matthew suppressed a giggle. Just looking at the childish joy in Gilbert's black rimmed eyes stirred up something within him. After you got to know him a bit, he wasn't that bad after all, Matthew thought.

* * *

**AN: And the third chapters up! Yay! Sigh. I don't think I can keep up this update speed any longer. . During school days I have an excuse to use the laptop but now since it's Summer break my mum's like YOU'RE ADDICTED TO COMPUTER GAMES AND MSN! -_-ll haiz, not true actually. I spend most of my time on FF and other useless crap (such as lurking HURHUR). Anyway when school begins I can always type up fanfiction in classes just like some of my other obsessed classmates do (since cuz our school uses laptops). Heheh. **

**Anyway this chapter is kinda short compared to the others just under 1000 words. And I've kinda noticed the story is moving on quite slowly sorry bout that! Thou shall start (attempting) to er, write more eh, interesting stories~ So that people don't die from boredom when they read this. XD**

**Review and Gilbert will or won't seize your vital regions!  
**


	4. Chapter 4: OMG Gilbo in flames! Jksjks

**DISCLAIMER: Yea, yeah. You know what I'm gonna say.**

Chapter 4: Getting To Know You (ish) OR At Least they speak!

After Maths was History, one of Matthew's favourite subjects (other than art or music). He found it extremely intriguing that over time mankind had shown so many sides of their selves. Through wars they were cruel, through disasters they were compassionate and yet through many hard times and sufferings, they always managed to escape.

Recess was usually a quiet affair for Matthew. It was only 15 mins long, long enough for students to have a short rest from ploughing through the school day and grab a bite but not enough for socialising. After recess was Music, they were going to be creating their own digital compositions this year. Then came lunch.

Rather than the conventional Lunch room with tables, their school had grassy areas and picnic benches set around the school specifically for students to have their lunches at. For the past 4 years, Matthew had always occupied the same bench under the maple tree. It was tucked in a small corner of the school and few people went there. It was a quiet and private place where Matthew could always enjoy his solitude, having his lunch and going about his own business with no one to interrupt him.

Of course some of his other acquaintances had offered Matthew a place at their lunch spots, but Matthew had always refused.

He knew they meant him good, but even if he had people around him, he would still feel left out. He didn't usual talk and socialise and moreover, half of the people he knew regularly forgot him, lest would even include them in their lunch circles.

Matthew got out his pencils and his sketchbook, put on some music and started mindlessly doodling again. When he finally snapped out of it, he realised he had drawn a picture of someone very familiar.

It was a fire. It just writhed and burned, clouding up the whole page. Debris was scattered in its depths. But there was someone in the fire, his arms held on level with his shoulders, his eyes closed peacefully. Most of his body was cocooned by the fire, only parts of his clothes and his face were visible. He was surely burning, yet he had a divine feel to him. As if he wasn't afraid of anything, as if he didn't care. Matthew noticed the faint marks of an Iron Cross on the boy and he knew immediately who it was.

Gilbert. But why would he draw Gilbert like that? He never meant him any harm, didn't harbour evil thoughts about him. But something about that picture of him chilled him to the core. Maybe it was the way Gilbert looked so at ease, even though flames were licking at him. Matthew shivered.

Matthew stuffed his sketchbook and pencils inside his bag hurriedly before he got even more crept out.

"Hey." A voice said from behind.

Matthew jumped and quickly turned around, realising it was only Gilbert. Gilbert arched an eyebrow, as if contemplating whether Matthew was just really easily scared or what.

"Do you mind if I sit here? 'Cause all of my other friends kinda like ditched me so now I'm err, stuck alone. And being alone is quite unawesome. So I was kinda just randomly walking around and then I saw you all alone and stuff and so I decided to come over here." Gilbert said in one whole breath.

After a minute of silence, with Matthew still too stunned to respond, Gilbert scratched the back of his head awkwardly and sighed.

"Look, if you're kinda creeped out by my red eyes and stuff I understand yea. But that's just really so unawesome. So…I guess I'll just go then. Uh, yea. Bye." Gilbert picked up his satchel and started to walk away when Matthew interrupted.

"Wait. It's fine. You can sit here. I'm not that used to people noticing me anyway so I guess it's nice to have someone sit with me eh?" Matthew whispered.

Gilbert looked at him as if he was crazy but immediately turned back and plopped down on the bench opposite Matthew.

Matthew then slowly resumed quietly munching on his sandwich, as if nothing had happened right before. Why is he here? Matthew faintly blushed. Whenever he thought of those eyes, they just- they, they…they were just magical? Nah that just sounded weird. Whatever. They drew him in, he imagined if he stared at them for too long, he would drown in them.

Meanwhile, Gilbert was staring at Matthew, as if studying him. He sure looks cute. Gilbert then immediately slapped himself for thinking such a thing. That brought Matthew up and looking quizzically at him.

"What?" Gilbert demanded. "Eh? Did you just slap yourself?" Matthew asked in a small voice, as if he was afraid Gilbert would snap at him.

Dammit. And he thought it was just mental. Did he actually hit himself? "Erm, nope. Obviously not. That would be totally unawesome. Kesesese~" Gilbert offered a shaky laugh.

Just right then, the bell rang signalling the end of lunch.

Matthew stuffed the remainder of his lunch in his bag before awkwardly asking Gilbert (who was just standing there doing nothing) what class he had now.

"Huh? Me? Let's see…English! Actually, double English. Yea! That's what I have now." Gilbert pondered for a moment, scratching the side of his head before he replied.

Matthew couldn't help but give a small smile at Gilbert's little gesture. "Oh, I have double English too. So, wanna walk there with me?" Matthew couldn't help but mentally face palm himself after saying that stupid ultra corny sounding line.

"Yea! Sure! Having my own little Mattie guiding me would be awesome!" Gilbert's face lit up and he ruffled the shorter blonde's hair.

"Lead the way!"

Matthew couldn't help laughing at Gilbert's apparent childishness again.

They got through English without any trouble, since Gilbert just seemed intent in listening to the teacher drone and on about etymology. Even though technically etymology was linked to History aka the History of words, their meanings and their derivatives, Matthew was half asleep through the first 10 mins of the class and so was half the class along with him. Their teacher Mr Long kept on hitting the table with a wooden ruler so as to prevent the class from dozing off.

It wasn't exactly their fault Gilbert though. No matter how interesting the subject was, he was also starting to find himself slightly sleepy. Mr Long's monotonous voice was like a broken recorder. It just kept on going on and on.

Thankfully that only went on for the first half of the lesson which was one period which was 55 mins long, enough torture for their teenage minds already Matthew thought. During the second half of the lesson, they had to pair up and went up to the computer rooms to do some research on the etymology of a list of words they were given. Naturally he and Gilbert paired up together. Though when Mr Long asked who Gilbert paired up with, he forgot who Matthew was and had to be reminded by a semi-pissed off Gilbert. Matthew was intent on getting the task at hand over and done with quickly but Gilbert seemed to prefer typing random words in Google and seeing if they would pass the SafeSearch filters set up. Apparently his interest in English didn't go that far.

After wrestling with Gilbert over the control of the keyboard and mouse, Matthew then proceeded to search up whatever information they needed, leaving Gilbert pouting at his side.

When the bell rang, Matthew was almost relieved. Sitting next to Gilbert trying to do work while he was shooting you evil looks was nerve rattling.

Gilbert as it turned out had cycled to school that day, which meant he was cycling back as well. "Bye Birdie!" Gilbert had yelled out in front of the school entrance, which resulted in everyone in hearing distance to whip their heads around and wonder who the hell that "Birdie" was.

* * *

**AN: Yay! For Gilbert embaressing Mattie in front of the whole school except they have no idea who the hell Mattie is anyway. They all suddenly had a temporary memory relapse that's probably why.**

**Anyway HAPPY NEW YEAR! or NEW YEAR'S EVE where ever you are. Where I'm now (Sydney), it's 1/2 hr after midnight on New Year's Day! Yay! Truthfully, (since I don't remember a single bit of the fireworks last year) the fireworks on the Harbour Bridge and whatnot weren't THAT spectacular (it was probably even worse since I was watching it on a screen). It was like 12 mins long-ish. BUT IT PROBABLY COST A TON. sigh. Anyway I was gonna post this straight after midnight but I had to watch the fireworks (on the TV :3) and then I got side-tracked cuz my fam were watching Hong Kong dramas (if you've ever watched a GOOD serial drama then you know what I mean, god, they're ADDICTING.)**

**HAPPY NEW YEAR/NEW YEAR'S EVE!  
**


	5. Chapter 5: Know Your Enemy

**Happy New Year everyone! (I think I've said it before.) Thanks for the reviews, favs, alert, everything! You have no idea how happy I feel whenever I receive an email alerting me of a review etc.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia, Canadian Idiot, maple syrup or anything in this fanfic for that matter. Apart from the fanfic itself. (how self-contradicting...)**

**get ready for txt speak that will butcher your mind into a bloody mess from it's complexity soon!  
**

* * *

Chapter 4: Know Your Enemy

**_Matthew_**

Alfred (as usual) forgot that he was meant to pick up Matthew from school and went home in the truck alone. This left Matthew waiting at the gates for an hour before he realised that Alfred was never going to come and pick him up.

Even his own family could forget him. What worth on this earth did he have then? Matthew was left trudging the two km walk home in the cold.

It took him another hour to get home. By that time, it was already dark. His father was sure to question why he was so late. But as soon as he got home, he was greeted by his father and Alfred having an argument, hugely not unusual for them. It seemed that the topic of disagreement this time was Alfred's social life. Matthew managed to sneak past the dining room unawares to the bickering duo.

Matthew dumped his stuff on his bed before flicking the computer on. He went on messenger, not something he did very often because every time he went online, he would be bombarded with messages of WHO R U? This got kind of sickening and depressing after a while.

* * *

[Maplesyrup1.6 is online]

gilbotheawesome(at)preussen(dot)net wants to add you.

_**Accept invitation**__?_

_Decline invitation?_

_Ask me later_

_Block User_

No sooner than after Matthew had just clicked the accept button, a new chat window popped up.

**Gilbert Beilschimdt-****gilbotheawesome(at)preussen(dot)net**

_Iamprussianmade! says:_

HEY BIRDIE! :D

_Maplesyrup1.6 says:_

Hi.

_Iamprussianmade! says: _

Sup?

Matthew cringed internally at Gilbert's informality. Even though this was a chat, Matthew still felt that text speak was incredibly stupid and hard to understand. It was not like either of them were rushing or something.

**[Maplesyrup1.6 is typing…]**

_Maplesyrup1.6 says_

Didn't you just see me two hours ago.

_Iamprussianmade! says: _

yea, but…

_Iamprussianmade! says: _

but…my awesomeness requests it!

_Maplesyrup1.6 says:_

Just got back from walking through the snow. D:

_Iamprussianmade! says: _

WHAT? Wht happened.

_Maplesyrup1.6 says:_

Alfred forgot to pick me up like the usual forgetful derp he is.

_Iamprussianmade! says: _

Haha. XD aww poor u.

_Maplesyrup1.6 says:_

Yeah… you?

_Iamprussianmade! says: _

West is making me wurst now!

_Maplesyrup1.6 says:_

?

_Iamprussianmade! says: _

wurst! ya noe the awesome sausage that's almost as awesome as me. ;D

_Maplesyrup1.6 says:_

Pfft. Of course I know. Who's West?

_Iamprussianmade! says: _

Oh west? he's mein baby bruder!

What the hell? He has a baby brother whom he calls West? Matthew thought.

_Maplesyrup1.6 says:_

…

_Iamprussianmade! says: _

He's my brother! in teh same grade as us!

_Maplesyrup1.6 says:_

…

_Iamprussianmade! says: _

oops. i meant the grade before us. :D and stop dotting!

_Maplesyrup1.6 says:_

…

_Iamprussianmade! says: _

the awesome me demands it! stop dotting this instance!

_Maplesyrup1.6 says:_

…

_Iamprussianmade! says: _

TUYIGNDFJVKFNBC.

_Maplesyrup1.6 says:_

:)

_Iamprussianmade! says: _

…

_Maplesyrup1.6 says:_

Look who's talking.

_Iamprussianmade! says: _

):

_Maplesyrup1.6 says:_

So…

_Iamprussianmade! says: _

Heehee. Juz found this song called Canadian Idiot. Parody of Ame Idt. XD

_Maplesyrup1.6 says:_

Half the stuff in that song isn't even true about us. Plus it's by an American, which doesn't count.

_Iamprussianmade! says: _

Oh yeah? wht about the hockey obsession you all hv over thr.

_Maplesyrup1.6 says:_

t-that. That's not counted! Everyone knows we like hockey eh?

_Iamprussianmade! says: _

Mwahahahaha. u stutter even online. :D and the maple syrup…

_Maplesyrup1.6 says:_

What? Don't look at me.

_Iamprussianmade! says: _

Even your chat name says so!

_Maplesyrup1.6 says:_

Eh…. -_-ll

_Iamprussianmade! says: _

And only Canadians say eh. :D

_Maplesyrup1.6 says:_

Vous taire.

_Iamprussianmade! says: _

ouch. going all Frenchy on me. Mal sehen, wer ist besser. :D

_Maplesyrup1.6 says:_

Whtever.

_Iamprussianmade! says: _

Ha! so u admit defeat! Kesesesese~!

_Maplesyrup1.6 says:_

No I didn't!

_Iamprussianmade! says: _

Kesesesese~ of cos u did! no one can resist the awesome me!

_Maplesyrup1.6 says:_

Meh. Whatever.

_Iamprussianmade! says: _

Lalalalalala. So you like hockey, maple syrup, drawing and what else?

_Maplesyrup1.6 says:_

… why do you have to know. Then you?

_Iamprussianmade! says: _

erm… I'm not that interesting really…

_Maplesyrup1.6 says:_

…

**[Iamprussianmade! is typing…]**

_Iamprussianmade! says: _

erh, West just finished cooking. must get wurst!

_Iamprussianmade! says: _

gtg. ttyl. remember tht I'm awesome! kthxbai. eheh.

_Maplesyrup1.6 says:_ (5:32 pm)

Okay… bye!

**Iamprussianmade! is offline**

**Last message received at 5:31 pm**

**

* * *

**

_**Gilbert**_

He ran his hands through his silver locks, visibly shaken. He wasn't exactly lying when he said Western was done with the food, but that wasn't really what he had exited the conversation for.

All these years, he had been keeping himself isolated, never letting anyone in except for his two best friends Francis and Antonio. Even they two didn't completely know what he had been through, just little smatterings here and there they had not been able to avoid in past conversations.

During unavoidable times, he always put on a visage. One of general playfulness, narcissism and someone with an I-don't-give-a-shit-about-what-you-think of me attitude. It wasn't always fake. How many times had he longed that all that was past would never crop up again or better yet have not ever happened at all? How he longed that he wouldn't wake up screaming from those nightmares, with no one he could confide to.

When he was adopted by Mr Beilschimdt and was transferred to his school, he thought that he could start anew, stay away from all the others he knew he would eventually hurt. But it all fucked up in less than an hour.

The moment he set his eyes on those violet ones, he knew that Matthew was different from the rest. Different from this high school world whose only motivation to live was to be popular. He knew he was being harsh, simply just dumping everyone in one stereotype. He had actually meant some nice people today.

But would they understand him? Would they still see him in the same light? That was the point; no one could understand him better than he himself could. He wasn't trying to be all depressed and stuff but it was the truth. How did they deal with kids like him? They shunned him. Occasionally you would have a caring one. Someone that really saw you for who you were.

And Matthew. He had nearly penetrated his mask. His one rule was to never reveal anything too much about you. Know your enemy, but don't let your enemy know you. That way you could always leave quickly without a trace. It wasn't easy surviving with all those tough kids. After awhile you learnt how they did things as well.

He breathed in deeply. It's going to be okay. He thought trying to reassure himself. Mattie's just going to be one of those people that'll probably find you really weird and stuff after a while and get sick of your constant narcissism.

"Osten! Your wurst is ready!" Ludwig called from the bottom of the stairs.

Even his brother, he didn't tell him much.

"Coming! " he called back, putting today's events at the back of his mind for now.

* * *

**AN: Yay! Gilbert finally thinks something from his point of view!**

**Translations:**

**vous taire (French)- will you shut up**

**Mal sehen, wer ist besser (German)- we'll see who is better**

**Osten (German)- west**

**Again I ran the French and German through a translator so correct me if they're wrong.**

**Edit- thanks to Luna-Discord for correcting my German!  
**

**Go check out Canadian Idiot by Weird Al Yankovic it has all the stereotypical Canadian facts you'll ever need to know.**

**I totally had such a great time (not) writing the MSN convo. :3**

**Spellcheck totally hates me now. XD**

**REVIEW OR MATTIE WILL HATE MAPLE SYRUP AND HOCKEY. :O  
**


	6. Chapter 6: What the hell is Yaoi?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia or yaoi D: though I do own some Hetalia merch and doujins.**

**Yay! The story traffic and story stats are back up again!**

**

* * *

**

Chapter 6: What the Hell is Yaoi?

_Matthew _

[after IM conversation with Gilbert]

Well…that was okay? Matthew thought when he read back on their conversation. He didn't have much experience in this area of life (a result of his self-consciousness). Which meant that he hardly dared to talk to people and socialise as he was basically too worried about who he might offend and make enemies of.

What was especially weird (on Gilbert's part that is) is how he dodged questions about him. Oh, well I guess some people are just like that…

* * *

[ the next day, before start of school]

"Hey Birdie!"

"Hi." Matthew rubbed his eyes sleepily while mumbling back.

"Gotta learn to be happier Mattie! Smile!"

"…"

"Stop inserting little awkward silences when you don't know what to say!" Gilbert said disapprovingly.

"Easy for you to say. You're not Mr-Invisible-Jones-oh-wait-it's-Williams." Matthew sulked. "It's hard to get noticed when you have a hyper-active brother by the name of Alfred Jones who's involved in everything preppy imaginable."

"Um, okay." He quietly said back. Hehe. Mattie looked kind of cute when he pouted! Gilbert mentally slapped himself (god knows with the number of mental slaps he gives himself) stop thinking these inappropriate things!

"Speaking of preps, haven't you noticed the number of girls checking you out? Even the Barbie doll blonde ones. Seriously, you've like got the whole female student population under a spell or something." Matthew raised his eyebrows, pointing at a group of giggling high school girls.

"Kesesese~ It can't be helped if they're attracted to the awesome me, huh?" Or not.

Gilbert looked at the direction Matthew was pointing out and flashed them a suave grin.

That immediately caused a reaction. One of them swooned, several others blushed furiously and the whole group scurried away in a giggling heap.

"See? The power of the awesome mein!" Gilbert got up and grinned down at Matthew.

What the hell. I'll never understand girls. Matthew sulked again. He couldn't help it but he felt a tiny pull in his gut when Gilbert had directed his attention to those girls. It was like he was possessive or something.

Well, he had to admit Gilbert was good looking. Very. Um, very very good looking in fact. By his standards (What? He had standards? Since when?).

He had silvery grey hair that almost looked snow white under the light. It was permanently tousled (the way girls like it) in a cute I-just-got-out-of-bed way. His eyes were red, Carmine red. Such a pretty shade. Matthew sighed. They were the colour of rich rubies. They held a certain amount of playfulness, youthfulness and joy. Yet lurking somewhere deep inside, was a small degree of sadness, ringed by that (sexy) black eyeliner. His eyes alone were enough to make girls faint on the spot.

The planes of his face were smooth and angled, with lips that were slightly chapped and well defined. His skin was so fair and white, so stark in contrast to his eyes. And his body, mon dieu… his physique was far from muscular but he did have a quite developed upper body . His shirt was just right so could see his well-defined arms…and his skinny jeans clung to him in all the right places and accentuated his legs that were just the right size and those hands…

Then he saw them again, those eyes, piercing into his soul, staring right into him. Wait, what? They were staring at him.

HOLY MAPLE. THEY WERE STARING AT HIM. AND HE WAS THINKING PERVERTED THOUGHTS ABOUT SAID PERSON.

HOLYFUCKINGMAPLE.

Those crimson orbs were peering at him quizzically.

Matthew immediately turned a furious shade of red and tried to move out of their compromising position but felt himself stuck for some reason.

And they just stood there. Staring into each other's eyes.

Back and forth back and forth.

Matthew had no idea how long they remained there.

Then came a frantic running of feet and a shout of "OH MY GOD. WHERE KIKU? WHERE?"

Witnesses later would say that they had seen a flurry of brown pulling a raven haired Japanese boy by the name of Kiku who had his usual expressionless face on to their direction.

They were still stuck in their respective positions when the click of a camera resounded.

"OH MY GOD. MUST. TAKE. MORE!" more clicks of a camera.

Gilbert was the first of the two to break out of it. His cheeks were slightly tinged pink and he threw an annoyed look at the girl.

"OHMYGOD. YOU GUYS ARE SOOOO CUTE TOGETHER!"

"Eh?" That was all Matthew could say, staring embarrassedly up at a girl with light brown hair and bright green eyes.

"You and your albino boyfriend here!" she squeed.

At that, Matthew turned even redder, if that was even possible.

After some awkward silence (Matthew was pretty sure he was the only one whom actually felt awkward since the girl was gleefully squealing like the typical high school teenage girl she was, Gilbert was in too much shock to respond and Kiku was just standing there passively). The girl finally broke it.

"Aww, how rude of me to intrude without even introducing myself. My name's Elizabeta Héderváry and this here is Honda Kiku. I'm sure you know him…." She lingered, apparently forgetting Matthew's name and gestured at a diligent looking Japanese boy at her side whom gave a small "Konnichiwa" and a quick bow in response.

"And you're Gilbert Beilschimdt the new kid! And who's this here? Your boyfriend…?"

At that moment, Gilbert snapped. "He's Matthew Williams, don't forget that! And I don't know who you are girl, but he's NOT MY BOYFRIEND!" he sat back down in a huff.

"Y-yea. We-we're just friends right?" Matthew stuttered softly.

"Oh my god, the Don't Mess With Me seme and the Innocent uke?" *squee* She turned to Kiku and murmured.

Back to the point.

"Oh really?" Elizabeta questioned almost childishly. "Cause you guys sure were acting like you were, you know…"

Gilbert turned back to her and gave her a glare which earned a smile in return from her. If looks could kill, Elizabeta would be stone dead by now.

"Anyway, thanks for the lovely moment and photos!" she added before grabbing Kiku and whisking him off while they murmured ecstatically about the real life "yaoi" moment they had just witnessed or something. Whatever that was.

After the weirdness of it all, what had just happened began to sink in.

Oh maple. What the hell is wrong with me? Argh…what was with the random daydreaming of Gilbert anyway. Ain't I straight…at least I think so. Wait, am I? This is too confusing. Wait, does this mean I just messed up our friendship? And it just started! I'm so useless!

Matthew's internal debate went on for a while and unknowingly to him Gilbert had noticed this little fact as well. He decided that he had to break the tension in the air.

"Well, wasn't that awkward." He flashed a sheepish and slightly apologetic smile at Matthew.

Matthew stopped and stuttered, his blush still evident on his face. "Y-yea. I mean, mistaking us for eh, b-boyfriends right?"

"We don't seem like a couple do we? Cause like it'll just be weird and stuff. Plus we're both straight. Right…?" Gilbert directed the last sentence to Matthew.

"Sure! Yea, I'm straight!" Matthew replied a bit too fast.

Then why was I thinking about how good he looked…never mind.

"A-anyway, I've got to go. Mrs Cleg wanted me to help her out with something before school. Yea, bye!" Matthew tried to make up an excuse to get away as fast as possible.

"Okay, later right? Bye." Gilbert gave him a small smile and a wave before disappearing as well.

* * *

**AN: Well, that was...random? So basically they talk, Matthew spaces out and drools about Gilbert's sexiness and then Elizabeta and Kiku come and fangirl/fanboy at the yaoi scene. And nothing much actually happens. -_-ll I think is this more of a filler chapter than anything since all they do is realise how awesome they are together (on Lizzie's part at least)  
**

**And obviously Elizabeta is Hungary, who else would be a fujoshi...**

**Reviews are love as usual!**

**Sorry for it being so dialogue heavy!**


	7. Chapter 7: Lunch With The Gang

**Disclaimer: Don't own Hetalia etc.

* * *

**

Chapter 7: Lunch With The Gang (Namely The Axis And Allies + Spamano & Gilbert) 

Over the course of the next few weeks they started to develop a close friendship. Matthew had a real friend for once and Gilbert had opened himself to another person (yet still not enough to tell him of his past). They mostly kept to their own but occasionally Francis and Antonio would call Gilbert over to sit at their spot.

Alfred had also taken to sitting with them since the arrival of Arthur (whom they found out had a history with Francis). In the end, it was always a big group and like all teenagers in big groups, it meant chaos.

...

"Ack, you bloody git! Don't touch me so inappropriately!" sputtered Arthur.

"Ah, but does that mean I can still touch you mon cher Anglais?"

"WHAT? I never said that!"

"Hey! Stop harassing Iggy, he's mine!"

"Bullocks, I don't belong to you Alfred! And it's Arthur to you!"

Arthur's face was a lovely cherry red colour at this point of time.

"You cannot deny l'amour, Arthur."

"What la armour Frenchie?" Arthur said with a smirk, knowing this would send Francis into frenzy.

"Non, non. It's l'amour, not la armour! How dare you mispronounce the language of love itself!"

"Bloody hell, who cares, l'armour this, la armour that."

"Arti-"

"It's l'amour! Pronounced "le mour"!"

" Get lost."

"Igg-"

"Non, I will not settle for that! Now say it! L'amour!" Francis was doing this particularly for the fact that it would provoke Arthur even more and an angry Englishman is always an amusing thing to watch (especially Arthur).

The other people having lunch as well with them three, namely Matthew, Gilbert, Antonio, the Vargas brothers; Lovino (albeit reluctantly) and Feliciano, Ludwig (he came as extra baggage where ever Feliciano went), Ivan, Yao, Elizabeta and Kiku.

They were either having their own argument; Antonio, Lovino, Feliciano and Ludwig, as Lovino was acting his usual self and calling Ludwig a "patate bastardo"; annoying Matthew (obviously Gilbert); fangirl/fanboying- Elizabeta and Kiku; or kolkolkoling in Ivan's case which Yao was the unfortunate victim of.

Of course someone just had to break this up.

"Iggyyyyyyy!"

A hyperactive armful of blonde American glomped Arthur.

"AGHHHHHHHH!" Was all Arthur could reply, flailing his arms wildly in chibi manga style as he got tackled by said American.

"YOU BLOODY WANKER! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

A click of a camera sounded as Arthur quickly sat back up and brushed himself down, smoothing his shirt back into place and straightening his tie.

"I'm getting your attention since you wouldn't respond to me!" Alfred said cheerfully, pouting at Arthur.

"There's no need to do that you know!" Arthur spluttered again, crossing his arms huffily and turning away from Alfred which led him face to face with a certain Frenchman again who leered at him teasingly.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaa~! You guys are almost as good as Gilbert and Mathias!" A squee erupted from Elizabeta who (obviously) couldn't contain her fujoshi instincts.

"There's just so much sexual tension between you and Francis! Plus the way Alfred so obviously likes you is soooo cute!" Elizabeta cooed at an enraged Arthur.

This earned a glare from Arthur, a proclamation of "The Hero does not play favourites with anyone!" from Alfred, another lecherous look directed at Arthur from Francis and a what the hell look from Gilbert.

"What do you mean they're _almost _as good as us?" Gilbert asked.

"Of course you guys are better! They have sexual tension and all but, you guys are unique!" Elizabeta chirped, unaware that the whole group had taken to listening to this little conversation between her and Gilbert.

"…"

"It's obvious that you guys are made for each other!"

"She does make a point you know, mon ami."

Gilbert gave Francis an annoyed look and threw a piece of bread at him.

"See! Your friend here agrees with me!"

"Gilbert's face is starting to look like mi Lovino when he's all red like a tomato, eh?" Antonio chipped in.

"Shut up you bastard! Stop saying those things in front of everyone!"

"Ve~ You shouldn't say words like that fratello!"

"Ah, shut up Feliciano!"

"Doitsu, Doitsu! Lovino asked me to *gulp* shut up!"

"…It's okay Feliciano, you know he doesn't mean it." Ludwig tried comforting the ever so sensitive Italian.

"Will you guys just shut the bollocks up!" Arthur snapped.

Everyone immediately looked at him in shocked silence, it wasn't everyday you saw a sight like this. Arthur immediately felt embarrassed with all the eyes on him.

"What? Never seen an Englishman snap at you before! Then stop looking!"

He muttered something along the lines of bleeding hell under his breath.

"You know Ivan that guy over there, he totally gives me the creeps." Matthew whispered to Gilbert.

"Yea…I guess so. Anyway, I've got a History essay due after lunch and it's still not finished yet and you're like awesome at history and stuff, so you, um, wanna help me or something? "

Gilbert sure looked fidgety when he said that, but well, a friend in need is a friend indeed right?

"Eh? Okay…let's get up to the library then."

"Awesome! I know I could count on you Birdie!"

Matthew shot Gilbert a look that said- I'm not just a friend with benefits you know that.

"Of course you're not just a friend with benefits Birdie! How could the awesome me do that!"

"Friends with benefits?" Elizabeta chimed, obviously taking the phrase the wrong round.

"So what have you guys done so far? Plain pashing? Or the full job?" she questioned, "Regardless, I knew you guys had a thing going on!"

"For the last time, we do not!" Gilbert protested, slinging his arm across Matthew's shoulders in what he hoped was a friendly way. Matthew's cheeks flushed pink at both Elizabeta's comment and Gilbert's actions.

"Kya~! Even your actions deny that!"

"Come on Birdie, let's go before she starts ranting about us again." Gilbert pulled Matthew away from the group in the direction of the library.

...

As he helped Gilbert with his history essay, which he found out was on the Anglo-American War of 1812 in Canada, he also found out that Gilbert was absolutely rubbish at History, he probably even slept through all his lessons. None of his facts were straight and he probably didn't even bother looking them up at all.

As a matter of fact, while he was editing (read; rewriting) Gilbert's essay, Gilbert was absolutely uninterested in whatever Matthew was doing, was fidgeting around and humming a tune under his breath.

He narrowed his eyes at Gilbert, trying to get his attention.

"What?" Gilbert stopped, Matthew's way of getting his attention apparently worked.

"Nothing…your essay is terrible you know that, I don't even know how I'm going to be able to correct this by the end of lunch. Just letting you know."

"Whatever, not that I care about this history shit anyway."

"How can you not like history? I mean, it may be kinda hard remembering dates and stuff, but come on!"

Gilbert gave Matthew an "I-don't-care-okay?" look which immediately silenced him.

After another 25 mins of trudging through Gilbert's atrocious work at a snail's pace, Matthew deemed the essay fit for the teacher's eyes, or at least he wouldn't get an F for it.

Matthew turned around to tell the albino that he was done, only to find him sleeping with his mouth wide open facing at the ceiling. Matthew had to suppress a giggle at this, finding it highly amusing. But Gilbert looked so peaceful, like a pale white angel (if an angel ever wore crumpled plaid shirts, ripped skinny jeans and chains). His lips were in a straight line, which gave him a grimmer yet more mature look, his shoes were propped up on the table and his hands were folded across his chest. He looks so at ease, Matthew thought.

Eyes and mind still lost somewhere on Gilbert's sleeping form, Matthew didn't notice that the certain sleeping form had cracked open an eye and was peering quizzically at Matthew.

Gilbert cleared his throat, snapping Matthew out of it. Maple. Why Do I always get caught spacing out by him? Matthew lamented, realising that it was second time Gilbert had had to snap him out of his little trances.

"Anyway, I've finished editing your work, I basically corrected the information only, so it'll probably not be the best but we don't have much time so yea."

"Thanks a lot Birdie!" Gilbert exclaimed, ruffling the shorter boy's hair and giving him a (man) hug.

The hug was completely unexpected and caught Matthew by surprising, making him let out a rather girly yelp, his cheeks colouring in again as he realised the close proximity he and Gilbert were at.

But then just like that, Gilbert was back up again, not noticing Matthew's discomfort as he dragged the blonde off to their next class.

* * *

**AN: EBUFGJNVFM. This chapter was so fail. . Well at least some other characters have appeared for once. My FrUk and USxUK sides have been showing up. heheh. This chapter was so dodgy to write. Sorry if Elizabeta just keeps on popping up annoyingly!**

**Translations:**

**_mon cher Anglais- _my dear (masculine) Englishman**

**_l'amour- _love**

**_non- _no**

**_patate bastardo- _potato bastard  
**

**_mon ami-_my friend (masculine)**

**_mi- _my**

**_fratello- _brother**

**For the French, I just inserted random phrases where I deemed appropriate (I hope). For the Italian I just googled how to say those few words so they might have some mistakes, fell free to point them out if there are though.**

**Reviews are love!  
**


	8. Chapter 8: What is Love?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia or the title of this chapter

* * *

**

Chapter 8: What is Love?

"Gilbert, have you ever believed in love at first sight?" Matthew asked. They were over at Matthew's house that Friday afternoon studying for the Maths test the following week. He had no idea why the question popped up all of a sudden, but he just felt like he needed to ask that, you know that feeling?

"Huh?"

"So have you?" Matthew questioned again.

"What? Me?"

"Yea, you. Who else?" Matthew dismissed Gilbert's appalled face as another of the little quirks of his personality he had come to know over time. But if he had studied Gilbert more closely at that instance, he would have found that the albino's pale features broke out in a dusting of pink the moment he asked that question.

"Eh… ja I guess." Gilbert mumbled under his breath, hoping Matthew didn't catch what he had said and also didn't get him to repeat it.

"Yes? That comes as a surprise I guess…who'd ever knew."

"What? What's so surprising about that? I'm the awesome you know." Gilbert crossed his arms and shot a look at Matthew.

"I don't know, you always hit me as the kind who wouldn't believe in these kinds of things."

"How about you then?"

"No, I suppose." Matthew whispered with a hint of wistfulness. "It's utter nonsense. The way you can just tell that you love someone when you don't even know them right?" Matthew looked up at Gilbert from the ground below his bed (obviously Gilbert had hogged up his bed in typical Gilbert fashion).

"They always say never judge a book by its cover, why should you believe in love in first sight then? How would you know that the other person would accept you for who you were?" Matthew said almost forcefully.

Gilbert raised a platinum eyebrow, never had he seen the normally quiet-spoken blonde become so worked up about something so trivial.

"Whoa, no need to get so…"

"So what? Love isn't a small thing, why do you think my parents got divorced? It was _love _Gilbert, or so they thought at least." Matthew spat out.

That really hit home. The betrayal of his father, everything that happened after that- all because of love and trust, the only reason why Gilbert didn't dare open himself up to anyone. No one would ever know what he went through, the terror of it all. Even thinking about it made his head spin and his heartbeat speed up in fear.

Matthew seemed to have noticed his discomfort as well. "Gilbert, are you okay?"

"Yea." Gilbert managed to croak out, trying to smoothen out his voice.

"I'm sorry if I was too…forceful. My parents split up when I was pretty young, but I was still aware of what was happening back then, so it's still hard to totally get over it all these years."

"I understand. My parents broke up as well." He knew it wasn't exactly the truth, but what else was he to say?

Matthew was shocked at Gilbert's words. "Y-you as well?"

"Yeap. I was adopted by Mr Beilschimdt from foster care. He's actually nice you know."

"Oh. I never knew. Sorry." Matthew suddenly felt guilty for making Gilbert upset.

"Nah, you never knew anyway." Yes, you didn't know. He looked at the top of Matthew's bowed head, suddenly having an urge to reach out and touch that blonde hair, wishing that it would be so much easier to tell Matthew, instead of lying and deceiving him.

At this stage, Matthew had felt a twinge of understanding for Gilbert's predicament. They both didn't have easy childhoods, having to go through the trouble of a family breakup.

"But…but if I knew that person, if I actually loved them, knew them, then love, I guess it would be possible." Matthew tried to switch the topic of conversation, seeing that they both were hesitant about it.

"It isn't impossible. But it would take some time. A long time." Matthew looked at Gilbert for any sign of a response, receiving a blank look from Gilbert.

"So have you been in you know…love?" It seemed weird to ask Gilbert such a personal question after the previous one, but he felt it was different his time, he felt a tug in his chest that he had grown familiar with after a while.

"Maybe." Gilbert gave Matthew a small and mysterious grin, seemingly to have forgotten the troubling conversation before.

"E-eh?" Matthew blushed, that grin had had more effect on him than Gilbert would have ever known.

"You know, like crushes? Everybody has them somewhere along their life. Some more than others." He said, as if teaching Matthew the art of love.

"There was this girl who lived down the street back in Germany that I used to fancy. Blonde hair, bluish eyes, almost violet. Like yours."

Matthew felt his face redden even more from Gilbert's words. He had inched closer to the edge of the bed, head resting against the headboard, his voice getting low and husky.

"You know, actually…you look almost like her…" Gilbert trailed off, he leaned over the side of the bed, reaching for Matthew's chin and tipping it up slowly.

Matthew's breath hitched when the silverette's fingers came in contact with his skin. The other's crimson orbs lined with dark kohl surveyed every inch of his face, his face dangerously close to his.

"Those eyes, they aren't as similar to hers as I thought. They have more quality to them, more colour, a deeper meaning hidden in them."

Matthew didn't know whether to be flattered or appalled at Gilbert's words. On one hand he was kind of praising his features; on another hand he did compare him to a girl. Gilbert was near enough now that he could feel his cool breath blowing on his face, his mind now in a frenzy, his head spinning at their close proximity.

"MATTIEEEEE!" A loud voice rang out, the owner of said voice slamming the room door open and barrelling in, stopping short when he caught sight of the situation in front of him.

"OHMYGOD MATT." He almost screamed. "Did I just interrupt something?" He whispered, cupping his hand to the side of his face, as if telling a secret.

Matthew quickly scrambled out of their compromising position while Gilbert acted like absolutely nothing had happened.

"You! Gilbert Beilschimdt! What are you doing to my baby brother? Do not fear him Mattie, the Hero is here!" Alfred exclaimed triumphantly, before launching himself at Gilbert. Gilbert, not having enough time to react let out a strangled OOOF sound as all 82.6 kilograms of Alfred crashed onto him.

"Stop that Alfred! We weren't, I m-mean, he wasn't doing anything to me!" Matthew shouted, his shouting volume only slightly above the average human's normal speaking voice, feeling extremely flustered at this point of time.

"Are you sure Mattie? Cause I'm the Hero! And the Hero saves the damsels in distress! And you seemed like one!" Alfred gestured wildly to show his point and his *ehem* Heroicness.

" Just get off him Alfred!" Matthew returned back to his normal demeanour.

"Okay Mattie! Whatever you say! The Hero's work here is done! Kthxbai!" He yelled, before rushing out of the room as fast as he came in.

The two remaining inhabitants of the room sat there in stunned silence before Matthew offered a shaky apology to Gilbert. The tension in the air thickened even more after that, leaving Gilbert to make a quick excuse for leaving.

Matthew sighed inwardly, why did so many of his meetings with Gilbert end like this?

* * *

**AN: ARGHHHHHH. WHY DO ALL MY CHAPTERS END SO WEIRDLY. -.-ll lol, Alfie's such a cockblock...**

**It's been almost 2 weeks since I last updated this story...sorry for this *fail* chapter. **

**REVIEWS ARE AWESOME!  
**


	9. UPDATE

***UPDATE***

**Hey, I haven't been updating in a while, yadayada. So basically I've had a MAJOR writer's block on this story and I kinda abandoned it for a while and worked on other stuff. I've finally managed to get rid of it and I have started the 9****th**** chapter, but I've also felt that the previous chapters were a bit ill-planned. My writing style may have suddenly changed a little and stuff with school starting and what not so I'm not exactly satisfied with chapters 1-8 now.  
**

**So I'm going to rewrite all previous chapters and repost them again. Some events will change significantly, I'll clean up my writing (aka actually THINK when I write) and etc.**

**Sorry and I hope you can bear with me. *sweatdrop*  
**


End file.
